Industrial-Strength Business

In our last blog, "R.I.P. Reps", we talked about the changes the internet has brought upon B2B marketing, particularly in the industrial sector. To round out this discussion, you should be aware of the one website that clearly dominates online industrial B2B marketing: GlobalSpec.com. If you’ve never heard of GlobalSpec, it might interest you to know that more than 4,000 of your competitors (or friends) have already listed their businesses (free) under “Commercial Printing Services”. There are many other printing-related categories where you can list your company in GlobalSpec.

Before you run off to check out GlobalSpec, you should note that you have to register to use the site. Just do it. With more than 6,500,000 registered users and thousands of advertisers, they can’t afford to do anything creepy with your information.

Industrial/B2B marketing is clearly different than B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing. B2B marketing is much more focused on generating and maintaining relationships while B2C marketing works on emotion or impulse.

Using personalization with variable data printing can be a way to generate and maintain relationships. While direct mail and VDP probably aren’t viable choices for the very large, trans-national OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), the fact is that there are many, many more small, local industrial businesses, distributors and resellers that service local or regional markets. You can find thousands of these smaller businesses in GlobalSpec.

If you offer any type of marketing solutions or websites to B2B companies, you should be familiar with GlobalSpec because your customers might know about it. If they don’t, then you can be a hero by telling them about it. Superficially, GlobalSpec may appear to be a gigantic industrial directory - it is, but it also much more. There are many very sophisticated marketing tools behind the curtain including broad syndication opportunities, online trade shows, on-demand events, highly subscribed e-newsletters, etc. If you wonder how companies with huge marketing budgets use the internet, just keep an eye out for new marketing tools appearing on GlobalSpec.

Lastly, GlobalSpec provides a great library of free marketing information, tools and tips. The focus is on the B2B segment, but much of it is readily relatable to B2C markets and businesses. Topics such as “Search Engine Marketing on a Small Budget” and “Top 10 Marketing Planning Mistakes” provide insight about the industrial and B2B marketing practices and trends as well as tips you can use in your own business. Look at the bottom of any page and click on “Advertise with us” to find this material.

Moving VDP and personalization to the industrial will certainly put you out front of the competition. We don’t guarantee instant results. We do guarantee, however, that if you never offer VDP to your B2B/industrial customers, they will never buy it from you.

Of course, VDP is always easiest when you use our EZ-VDP services.

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R.I.P. Reps

One needs no more evidence that the internet has forever changed the face of business than to consider the Thomas Register. Originally published in 1898, the Thomas Register grew to include 650,000 industrial-related businesses and 67,000 categories in 2006. That was also the last year this invaluable, green-colored and humongous, reference set was published…rest in peace…killed by the internet.

The internet has also radically changed the role of the industrial sales representative.

For decades, engineers and technical professionals would look forward to their industrial sales rep dropping in for a regular visit to find out about new products and get solutions to their problems (and maybe some donuts). A recent survey said that 93% of these technical types now go to the internet first when looking for products, technical information and suppliers...R.I.P. traditional sales reps. While sales reps won’t totally vanish, their role vis-à-vis the customer is clearly morphing into something new and different.

So, what does this have to do with printing?

For starters, this scenario is not limited to the industrial market segment. Variations of this are occurring across many business segments. The internet has made even the smallest manufacturer or distributor in some lesser-developed country a global competitor. And, it has changed the dynamics of marketing.

Lead generation and sales success, today, has much less to do with the coverage, quality or aggressiveness of a company’s sales reps. Now, it’s about delivering a message and reaching the right audience in a ultra-competitive market-space.

But, what about printing?

Many businesses have lost the personal connection they enjoyed with their customers through their sales reps. The internet is about as personal as a football stadium bathroom at halftime. Marketers looking to “re-connect” with customers or those wanting to stand out may find personalized direct mail a way to do this. It can help to add something personal to relationships with customers and also be a way to point them to the right place on the internet.

As you discuss solutions with customers, ask them how the internet has changed the way they interact with and acquire new customers. You might find a niche that cries out to be filled with personalized direct mail.

While you’re at it, say “goodbye” to your old notion about VDP and see what you can do with EZ-VDP.

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Datum Is Not a Social Strategy

When your friend is eyeing members of the opposite sex at the local watering hole, “datum” (pronounced “day-tum”), is not appropriate advice. Datum is the singular form of “data”. It is a Latin noun meaning “something given.” Therefore, a bucket of datum is data (or a bunch of given somethings): but, what exactly is data?

Wikipedia describes data as, “…qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables.” Huh? Not to worry, they make it perfectly clear later on: “Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which information and then knowledge are derived.” Right! This kind of stuff will have you repeating that famous expression from Homer Simpson - “doh!”

A datum is commonly a measurement, a fact, a number, an image and the like. Without being put into some context, a datum has no meaning. Take, for example, “9”. Nine is a datum, but nine what? How about nine beers? “Nine beers” is information rather than a datum. “After drinking nine beers, my friend pointed at all the cuties in the bar and started yelling, “date’m.” That’s knowledge. It’s useless, but knowledge nonetheless. Can you see how data builds into information that builds into knowledge?

Furthermore, “data” is a mass noun. It is the plural form of a word that is treated as if it’s singular. How many times have you heard, “The data are a mess.” Never. It’s always, “The data IS a mess.” That’s a plural noun with a singular verb. This is not only common usage but grammar scholars generally shake their heads and accept it as inevitable.

In the printing world, we talk about variable data printing. In reality, VDP might really be called variable information printing or “VIP” since it is often information, rather than data, that is most commonly used to personalize printed materials. "John Smith, 823 Green Street, Somewhere, TX" is information, not data. Or, is it?

When we take a bunch of information, like mail addresses, and break it down into records and fields (as in a spreadsheet- |John|Smith|823 Green Street|Somewhere|TX|), each cell becomes a datum (|Smith|) and all the cells with our mailing address information would correctly be called data. In printing terms, the distinction between data and information is pretty fuzzy, and the two terms can be (and are) used interchangeably.

See how easy it can be to start doing VLLAP - Variable Lowest Level of Abstraction Printing.


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The Postman Always Rings Twice

It was a historic 1930s murder-love-mystery novel: The Postman Always Rings Twice. In 1946, it was made into a movie of the same name starring Lana Turner and John Garfield. A remake with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange came out in 1981. It seems plausible that this novel  and the movies have traumatized generations of print shop owners about the post office – NOT! However, we continue to find quite a few print shop owners with an inordinate fear of anything to do with business mailing and the post office.

“What if they won’t take my mailing?”

“I’ve heard stories about…”

“I lost a good customer when the lettershop screwed up his mailing.”

The expressions of fear and anxiety about mailing and dealing with the USPS just keep on coming up.

If this fear isn’t caused by the novel or the movies, perhaps it comes from horror stories or rumors perpetuated by lettershops. But, why would lettershops want to do this? Could it be that they want to keep the print shops dependent on them for addressing and mailing? Certainly not!

Perhaps, the fear comes from having tried to get a straight answer from the Domestic Mail Manual or “DMM” – the holy grail of postal regulations. There’s a document that’s clear as mud and as straightforward as the tax code.

But, business mailing isn’t all that difficult…with the right help.

Our EZ-VDP brand services eliminate virtually all the anxiety about business mailing for print shop owners. We help you through the entire process from getting a mail permit to dropping the mail at the post office the first time. Read more about how easy the business mailing process can be…

Just this week, we have helped at least five print shop owners do their own mailings for the first time. They're not only still alive but smiling.

There’s something else to consider about mailing. The USPS is struggling financially. The volume of mail continues to drop. Even the most ferocious of postal employees must see the handwriting on the wall. The USPS is doing everything they can to make the business mailing as friendly and easy as possible. They have just completely revamped their website to make information about mailing easier to find (but perhaps not understand). Besides, a friendly word (or maybe even a doughnut) probably gets you a long way with anyone at the post office.

Finally, no postman ever appears or is even mentioned in The Postman Always Rings Twice. The author, John Cain, explained that the title was related to the 13 times his manuscript was rejected. Obviously, he wasn’t afraid of the post office.

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Treat Your Customers Like “Jerks” - They’ll Love It!

The 1979 Steve Martin movie, The Jerk, contains a teachable moment relevant to variable data printing…people love to feel like The Jerk. Albeit, in some limited fashion.

In one scene, Martin’s character, Navin R. Johnson, is a gas station attendant. Navin interrupts a conversation with the gas station owner when he sees a man delivering telephone directories. Snatching a directory out of the man’s hand, Navin rips through it and begins leaping for joy and shouting, “The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!” The station owner stares at Navin and comments that he wished he could that excited over nothing. Wildly gesturing at the phone book, Navin shoots back, “Nothing?! Are you kidding?! Page 73. Johnson…Navin…R…I’m somebody, now!”

I’m somebody, now!

That’s the feeling you can produce in people with personalization using VDP. Make them feel like The Jerk.

How do you feel when you get mail addressed to “Occupant” or “Current Resident”? This is so ego-deflating that the message may be irrelevant. Then, you get the mail with your name in the address line but otherwise sterile and impersonal.

I’m somebody, now!

That’s how you should feel when you get a personalized piece with your name on the front and something that connects with you personally be it text, images or both. The message might be as simple as, “John, we love [fill in the blank] as much as you do.” Combined with an appropriate image, you have a very high likelihood of creating an I-am-somebody-now moment for that person. You made the person feel like The Jerk and developed an emotional connection with him or her.

Make your customers feel like Jerks. They’ll love it. Then, show them how easy and rewarding it can be for them to make their customers feel like Jerks. You get the point.

I’m somebody, now!

We never expected to say this, but…

We make it easy for you to make your customers feel like Jerks with our EZ-VDP services - www.DigitalFormattingServices.com

The movie trailer is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMJgC0ZidLg


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It All Depends on What “Do” Means

We get all sorts of responses when we ask printers, “Do you do VDP?” The most typical responses are “yes” and “not really”. Interestingly, both of these answers are completely honest and most often mean the same thing. It all depends on ones view of “doing VDP”.

Printers answering “yes” most often mean that they can do a sort of simplistic “mail merge” process to put addresses on an otherwise static page. A master page is loaded in the RIP and the variable addresses are printed on top of the master. Technically, that is variable data printing. But, don’t look to do anything like variable graphics or more complex variable text that way. A very small number of printers that answer “yes” actually do do VDP, however few of them would claim that they are highly proficient at it.

Printers that answer “not really” may be doing VDP to the same extent as the ones answering “yes” but the formers’ view of variable data printing includes those fancy variable effects and personalization.

That’s how “yes” and “not really” can mean the same thing – it’s just a matter of ones’ point of view. Much like the issue of whether the glass is half empty or the glass is half full.

Printers answering “yes” to the doing VDP question are in something of a precarious position. If they make it known that they do VDP, a customer wanting full-blown personalization and special effects will certainly appear. Murphy’s Law always applies. Then, what does the printer do?

We provide EZ-VDP brand services so that any digital printer can offer an emphatic “Of course we do! What do you need?” when the question about doing VDP comes up. You no longer need to fear VDP. Embrace it, promote it …and use to grow your business.


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Find VDP Business in Your Neighbor’s Trash

We don’t recommend dumpster diving or rifling through your neighbor’s trash cans, however you could find plenty of potential leads for new VDP business that way. It’s far cleaner and less hazardous to simply ask a dozen or so family members and friends to save the direct mail they might otherwise throw away and give it to you. But, what do you do with this “trash”? It might be a treasure trove of competitive information and market intelligence…if you look at it in the proper perspective.

What you can glean from it includes details such as:

• Who produced the VDP direct mail (the mail permit may tell you)
• What businesses or industries are using VDP for direct mail
• How (and to what level of detail) they are using personalization
• Who is doing a lousy job of VDP personalization, and
• Who isn’t using personalization in their direct mail (the static postcards and self-mailers).

Once you’ve collected your trash over a number of weeks or months, separate it by business or product type. Let’s say that you end up with 15 unique pieces promoting jewelry – six different pieces from one local jeweler, three pieces each from two smaller, local jewelers and three pieces from mass marketers or national retailers. You see that the three pieces from one of the smaller jewelers used personalization, so your first effort might be to contact that jeweler to offer your VDP and other services. Here you have a lead already sold on using VDP so your approach is probably based on better solutions, such as service.

Next, you can target the two other direct-mailing local jewelers about upgrading to VDP. You already have a sample of their competitor jeweler using VDP to use as part of your pitch. You might also take the jewelers’ static mailers and mock them up to show they could be improved with some eye-catching personalization. Selling in these cases would be on the value of personalization with VDP (i.e. ROI, customer acquisition costs, etc.).

Finally, you have all the other local jewelers that aren’t doing any direct mailing. If they had poor experience with direct mail using static pieces, then the competitors VDP mailing and some snappy personalized samples might just renew their interest in direct mail. The sales pitch could include the fact that they would be one of the few jewelers using personalized advertising.

Repeat the process for other businesses and look for ways of migrating ideas from one type of business to another. A further benefit of collecting this type of trash is that you build up a library of VDP samples, ideas and best practices (such as what not to do). Former GE CEO, Jack Welch, said, “An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” Start taking your trash more seriously to generate new opportunities.

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The Disappearing Lettershop

We speak with many print shop owners, and a recurring complaint, these days, is that the number of lettershops is rapidly dwindling. Moreover, there is an explicit or implied distrust of the remaining lettershops.

Let’s face it: lettershops are having business challenges just like print shops. It’s only natural that lettershops will do what they must to survive…even if that means competing with their customers, the print shops. Many print shops now offer digital printing, for example.

Another byproduct of the new reality for lettershops, and print shop owners, could also be higher prices for lettershop services. At some point, as competition decreases; prices tend to increase.

One customer put it like this, “I know ABC [lettershop] is going out of business, and I don’t trust any of the others any farther than I can throw them.” Using VDP for addressing and in-house mailing solved a large part of the disappearing lettershop problem. It also ended up costing less than the lettershop charged while eliminating the need to disclose customer identities to potential competitors.

If any of this sounds familiar…look into EZ-VDP(SM).

VDP Software Comparison

A traditional comparison of VDP software would detail the differences between Brand “A” VDP software, Brand “B” VDP software and so forth. This type of VDP software comparison, however, presumes that you want to buy VDP software. Maybe you’re not a super-experienced VDP software user, but you see the advantages of variable data printing for your business. If that’s the case, maybe you don’t really need to be hurting your head with VDP software comparisons.

The purpose of VDP software is to create hundreds or thousands print files. Printers don’t truly want to buy VDP software, but they do want VDP print files to print. In this case, the right place to start might be considering the various ways to get VDP print files rather than jumping straight into a VDP software comparison. The following example will make this clearer.

Printers commonly outsource UV coating and die cutting. Printers print materials, send those materials out to be coated and/or die cut, get the coated and/or cut materials back and finish the job. Obviously, the outsourcing printers have already made a comparison between purchasing UV coating and die cutting equipment and outsourcing this work. For a variety of practical and financial reasons, many printers choose to outsource UV coating and die cutting work. The printers aren’t comparing different brands of UV coaters but are comparing the benefits of in-house versus outsourced work.

For the same reasons you may not own a UV coater or die cutter, you might not want to purchase VDP software...if you can outsource the creation of VDP print files. You could look at comparisons of VDP software for cost, ease of use, support capability, etc. and to determine whether or not the best business decision is to outsource.

The point is that you do not have to buy VDP software to be in the VDP business. You can outsource the VDP print file creation just as you might outsource other pieces of a job. If VDP software comparisons leave you confused, then you should seriously consider outsourcing.

It’s called EZ-VDP(SM)!

Teaching VDP to Speak

A common question is, “how do you sell VDP?” Perhaps you let VDP speak for itself.

The following is one of our favorite techniques for demonstrating the power and value of VDP. It requires very few words and no convincing. If your customer doesn't respond positively, check his pulse.

Tom’s university alumni group is soliciting money for the school. Tom receives the following postcard asking for money.

What would your response be to this postcard?

Now, assume Tom receives a different postcard:

In case you didn’t recognize him, that's Tom in the picture with his old football teammates.

At this point, it’s important to mention that a recent study found that 68% of people go through their mail within reach of a trash can.

Then, ask three simple questions:

1) Which of the postcards is most likely to go in the trash and which one is most likely to go on the fridge or the desk?

2) Which postcard will raise the most money?

3) Which postcard uses VDP?

There’s a good chance you have raised your customer’s interest in learning more about VDP. The next step might be recommend starting with one or two test projects to let the customer become convinced that VDP works.

With EZ-VDP, this approach is, well...easier.